Nova Uniao's Perpetuo Wins GP, Teixeira Pounds Cruz at Fight Club

It wasn't pretty, and at times it was downright frustrating, but
Nova Uniao added another champion to its gym Wednesday night, as
Hernani
Perpetuo took out both Pride veteran Daniel
Acacio and UFC veteran Edilberto
de Oliveira by split decision to conquer a one-night, four-man
grand prix at Brazilian promotion Fight
Club's inaugural card at Via Show in Sao Joao do Meriti, Rio de
Janeiro.

Perpetuo, a native of Rio's Flamengo neighborhood, was either
blessed or cursed by his circumstances in the tournament. Having
started slow in his semifinal bout with Acacio, Perpetuo suffered
two deep cuts on his scalp from Acacio's ground-and-pound elbows in
the first round. However, the Nova Uniao product evened the bout in
the second, scoring with heavy low kicks on his veteran foe. After
two rounds, the judges saw the bout unanimously 19-19, forcing a
three-minute overtime round.

The overtime round was Perpetuo's, as he went back to his powerful
low kicks to best Acacio. After the period, Perpetuo took two 10-9
rounds to earn a split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) and advance
to the final.

The Bahia native was aggressive from the beginning, landing many
hard right hands and forcing Andrade to retreat for the majority of
the contest.

Andrade had a brief salvo of offense in the second round, but it
lasted just moments, as a Crocota right cross dropped him shortly
afterward, sealing the fight for the outspoken Oliveira.

The main event was a tedious affair, and not through any fault of
its fighters. The scalp lacerations of Perpetuo began to stream
blood in the bout, despite the amount of vaseline applied into the
cuts.

the bout, using his counterpunching and low kicks to stop the
forward momentum of the aggressive Crocota, referee Artur
Mariano called for an inexplicable six cut checks over the last
10 minutes of the fight, in addition the rignside doctors examining
Perpetuo between rounds.

Perpetuo also had to overcome adversity elsewhere in the third
round, as he took Crocota's thumb to his eye from an errant jab,
and also needed to tough it out through a tight guillotine in the
last 30 seconds that looked like it might force a tap. However,
Perpetuo heard the final horn.

Judge Sylvio Behring saw it 30-27 for Perpetuo, and Ivan Melo had
it 29-28 for the Nova Uniao fighter. and took two 29-28 scorecards
to earn his second split nod of the evening. Dissenting judge Paulo
Borracha saw it 30-28 for Crocota.

"Daniel Acacio was the most complete fighter in the tournament. He
was the favorite. Crocota had the best boxing and the experience
advantage," Perpetuo explained after his tournament win. "But I
came here with the biggest heart and showed I wanted this more than
them."

With the tournament victory, Perpetuo moves his MMA mark to 12-3
and solidifies himself as another one of Nova Uniao's bright young
talents. As well, he picks up a bonus of 5000 reais -- just under
$3200 USD -- for his win. Crocota will receive 2500 reias as
runner-up.

In the tournament reserve bout, Kell Santos
took a controversial verdict over long-time vale tudo veteran
Claudionor
Fontinelle. In an exciting fight, Fontinelle was the aggressor
but was docked a point due to a yellow card for kicking Santos
while he was grounded. As a result of the deduction, the Paraiba
native Santos was announced the winner by split decision, taking
scores of 20-19 from judges Rodrigo Savendra and Ivan Melo. Sylvio
Behring saw the bout 19-18 for Fontinelle.

Teixeira Pounds 'Pe de Pano'; 'Pe de Chumbo'
Sneaks by Shirai

G.
Venga

Glover Teixeira stopped "Pe De Pano."

Glover
Teixeira showed again why he is the best light heavyweight
fighter not signed by a major promotion by completely dominating an
out-of-shape, 256-pound Marcio Cruz
in the eveningÂ´s co-main event.

Teixeira, competing as a 234-pound heavyweight, stuffed takedown
attempt after takedown attempt on his way to a technical knockout
win in the second frame. From the opening bell it was clear that
the 2003 ADCC champion wanted no part with TeixeiraÂ´s striking
game. He had absolutely no success bringing the fight to the ground
during the first round and had to be stood up by referee Artur
Mariano on several occasions.

In the second round, the confident Teixeira showed less respect for
Cruz’s vaunted submission game and end up on top after another
takedown attempt. He took his time to pass "Pe de Pano's" guard and
then unloaded a flurry of punches before Mariano saved Cruz from
the onslaught at 4:21 of the second frame.

“I am also a black belt in jiu-jitsu. I finished fourth at ADCC.
However, thatÂ´s his area and I had to respect him on the ground,”
said a happy Teixeira after his 11th straight win.

On his future, the Rio de Janeiro-based fighter said, “Thank God I
was able to get the win and hopefully IÂ´ll finally be able to move
on and fight outside Brazil in the near future."

The 31-year-old Teixeira, now 13-2, is in the process of awaiting a
green card. Married to an American citizen, Teixeira hasn't fought
in North America since March 2008.

After getting an early takedown in the first round and advancing to
take ShiraiÂ´s back, Heleno had to endure a late comeback by the
Japanese fighter, who not only managed to free himself from
HelenoÂ´s back mount but also got a knockdown and landed some heavy
shots from the top at the end of the round.

The second round saw less action from both fighters, but it still
had its moments, with Shirai working his ground-and-pound from the
top but facing real danger late in the round when Heleno got his
arm and started to position his hips for an armbar, which he
managed to escape. However, the pace came to a halt in the third,
as neither man effected much offense.

The early left hook followed by a powerful slam set the tone in
what was a brilliant showing by Torres.

Displaying a full array of grappling moves, Torres went from one
position to another, threatening with a rear-naked choke before
finally tapping Pachu with a straight armbar from half guard at
2:58 in the opening frame.

"[The UFC] said I had to finish four opponents to get back. This is
my fifth straight finish, all of them in the first round." said
Torres after the victory.

The scrappy Guerra, who stood in for Gordo Jiu-Jitsu product
Diego
Braga, didn't back down against one of Brazilian Top Team's
brightest prospects. Both rounds saw Santos using his superior
takedowns to get the fight to the ground, whilr hurting Guerra on
the feet with impressive kicks. Guerra answered with strong boxing,
targeting the northeastern Brazilian's body.

However, at the end of two rounds, the Espirito Santo-based
"Chambinho" limped back to his corner on a ginger right leg, and
retired on his stool, giving Santos his seventh straight
victory.

After standing back up, "Kiko" imposed his superior striking game,
landing hard punches and putting Oliveira on the run on a couple of
occasions. Midway through the second frame, Felipe locked up a
quick guillotine off of an attempted Oliveira takedown, forcing the
tap at 2:55 of the round.